to alt er at pleasure; and shall be and are hereby vested with all the privileges, powers and immunities necessary to carry into effect the objects of this act; of holding and conveying real and personal estate, necessary for the purposes, above mentioned; of contracting and being contracted with. And the immediate government and direction of the affairs of said company shall be vested in three directors, who shall be chosen by the members of the corporation, in the manner to be prescribed by the by-laws thereof, who shall hold their offices until others are duly elected; and said directors, a majority of whom shall form a quorum for the transaction of business, shall elect one of their number to be president of said company.

§ 12. The president and directors, for the time being, President and are hereby authorized and empowered, by themselves or directors. their agents, to exercise all powers herein granted to said Green, his associates, their heirs and assigns, for the purpose of constructing and completing said bridge.

§ 13. The said company shall have power to make all By-laws. such by-laws, rules and regulations as they may deem necessary to carry into effect the objects of this act, and for the transfer and assignment of its stock, the conveyance of property, and the payments of assessments; and if any assessment upon the stock subscribed shall remain unpaid after thirty days' public notice has been given, requiring the payment of the same, it shall be lawful for the president of said company to sell such delinquent share or shares in such manner as the directors of the company may deem expedient: Provided, the by-laws established by said company shall not be repugnant to the laws of this state or the United States.

§ 14. The members of said company, their heirs and Individual liaassigns, shall be liable in their private and individual prop- bility. erty, for any and all debts contracted on account of said bridge, to an amount equal to the stock so by him or them held.

ed.

§ 15. The said Green, his associates, their heirs and Navigation not assigns, shall construct said bridge in such a manner that to be obstructit shall not obstruct navigation on said river; that they shall keep open at least sixty feet at all times when steamboats. or other crafts navigating said river may wish to pass said. bridge.

§ 16. The act to authorize George H. Norris to build Revival of act. a bridge accross the Illinois river, at Ottawa, in force March 1st, 1847, is hereby revived; and the said Norris, his heirs and assigns, are hereby authorized and required to commence the construction of said bridge in one year, and complete the same in two years thereafter; and the said act is hereby so amended as to require the said Norris, his Amendment. heirs and assigns, or any person or persons acting under said

Restriction.

act, to build said bridge below the mouth of Fox river and in the town of Ottawa.

§ 17. Neither of said companies shall at any time own more real estate, exclusive of their bridge, to an amount exceeding five thousand dollars.

APPROVED February 17, 1851.

In force Februa- AN ACT to incorporate the Mississippi and Rock River Junction Railroad Company. ry 15, 1851.

Corporation.

Style.

Duration.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That James F. Booth, John Phelps, jr., William C. Green, William L. Booth, Mellord Green, Clark Green, Robert Green, Wilson H. Weight, Nathaniel R. Boon, Richard Green, George Dudley, Rowland H. Reese, Samuel Johnson and Royal Jacobs, and such others as they may associate with them, their successors and assigns, are hereby constituted a body corporate and politic, by the name and style of "The Mississippi and Rock River Junction Railroad company," and by that name shall have succession for the term of fifty years from and after the passage of this act; and may, by that name, contract and be contracted with, sue and be General powers. sued, plead and be impleaded in any court of law or equity; may have and use a common seal and alter the same at pleasure; may make by-laws, rules and regulations for the management of its property, the regulation of its affairs, and for the transfer of its stock, not inconsistent with the laws and constitution of this state or of the United States; and may, moreover, appoint such subordinate agents, officers and servants as the business of the said corporation may require, and allow them a suitable compensation, prescribe their duties, and require bond for the faithful performance thereof, in such penal sums and with such securities as they may choose, who shall hold their offices during the pleasure of a majority of the directors of the said corporation.

Objects.

§ 2. The said corporation shall have the right to survey, locate and construct, and, during its continuance, to maintain and continue a railroad, with single or double track, and with such appendages as may be deemed necessary for the convenient use of the same, from the Narrows of the Mississippi river, in Fulton City, Whiteside county, and state of Illinois, to a point on the north-western branch of the Central railroad, north of Rock river, by the way of Sterling, in said county of Whiteside, should said branch of said Central railroad, when definitely located, run east

of said town of Sterling, and to locate and construct the same on such line, course or way as may be designated and selected by the directors of said corporation where on to construct and locate the same, and may also prescribe the manner in which said railroad shall be used, by what power the carriages to be used thereon may be propelled, to regulate the time and manner in which goods, effects and passengers may be transported and carried on the same, and the rates of toll on the transportation of persons and property thereon.

§3. The capital stock of the said corporation shall be Capital stock. seventy-five thousand dollars, and shall be deemed personal property, and shall be divided into shares of fifty dollars. The capital stock may at any time hereafter be increased to a sum not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars, if the same shall be judged necessary, to be subscribed for and taken under the direction of the directors of said corporation-books to be opened for that purpose, and in such manner as may be prescribed by the by-laws of said corporation.

Notice

§ 4. The following named persons, to wit: Royal Ja- Commissioners. cobs, John Phelps, jr., William L. Booth, Richard Green, Samuel Johnson, Charles S. Lunt, Joel Harvy and Van J. Adams, John B. Myers, Joseph Boynton, Rowland H. Reese, Henry Ustick, Joshua T. Atkinson, of Whiteside county, Illinois, shall be commissioners for receiving subscriptions to the capital stock of said corporation, who shall, within twelve months from the passage of this act, cause books to be opened at such times and places as they may deem proper, for receiving subscriptions to the said capital stock. Notice of the times and places when and where the books will be opened to be given by publication, for at least thirty days previous to opening the same, in some public newspaper published in the city of Rock Island, or Galena. On opening said books said commissioners shall attend, by themselves or agents, and continue to receive subscriptions to the capital stock of said corporation from all persons who will subscribe thereto, until the whole amount thereof shall have been subscribed, when the said books shall be closed. Each subscriber shall, at the time of subscribing, pay to the commissioners the sum of five dollars on each share of the stock subscribed for by him; and the said commissioners shall, so soon as the directors of said corporation are elected, deliver to them the whole amount so received, and also all subscription books and papers belonging to said company. A majority of said commissioners may fill any vacancies that may occur in their number by death, resignation or otherwise.

§ 5. The affairs of said corporation shall be managed Directors. by a board of nine directors, to be chosen annually by the

Election of directors.

stockholders from among themselves. The first election for directors shall be holden as soon as may be after the stock has been subscribed. The commissioners shall give notice of the time and place at which a meeting of the stockholders will be held for the choice of directors; and at the time and place appointed for that purpose the commissioners, or a majority of them, shall attend and act as inspectors of said election. The stockholders who shall be present, either in person or by proxy, shall proceed by ballot to elect their directors; and the commissioners present shall certify the result of such election, under their hands, which certificate shall be recorded in the books of the corporation, and shall be sufficient evidence of the election of the directors therein named. All future elections shall be held at the times and in the manner prescribed by the by-laws and regulations of said corporation. Each stockholder shall be entitled to vote in person, or by proxy duly authorized, one vote for every share he may own, at the commencement of each election, and a plurality of votes shall determine the choice, but no stockholder shall be allowed to vote at any election, after the first, for any stock which shall have been assigned to him within thirty days. previous to holding such election.

§ 6. It shall be lawful for the directors to require payPayment of subscriptions. ment of the subscriptions to the capital stock, at such times and in such proportions and on such conditions as they shall deem proper, under the penalty of the forfeiture of the stock and all previous payments thereon; and they shall give notice of the payments thus required, and of the place where and the time when the same are required to be paid, at least thirty days previous to the time of requiring payments, by publication in at least three of the most publie newspapers printed in the state.

Real estate.

Right of way.

Damages.

§ 7. The said corporation is hereby empowered to purchase, receive and and hold such real estate as may be necessary and convenient in accomplishing the objects for which this corporation is granted, and may, by their agents, engineers and surveyors, enter upon and take possession of and use all such lands and real estate as may be necessary and indispensable for the construction and maintenance of said railroad and the appendages and accommodations requisite and appertaining thereto; and may also receive, take and hold all such voluntary grants and donations of lands and real estate as shall be made to the corporation for the purposes aforesaid; but whenever any lands, real estate or materials shall be taken and appropriated by said corporation for the location or construction of said railroad or its appendages, or any work appertaining thereto, and the same may not be given or granted to said corporation, or the proprietor or proprietors do not agree with said cor

poration as to the amount of damages or compensation which ought to be allowed and paid therefor, or shall not mutually agree on some person or persons to appraise the same, damages shall be estimated and assessed in manner following: the said corporation, or the owner or owners of said lands, may, on giving notice of their intended application and the time and place of making the same, apply, by petition to the judge of the circuit court of the county in which said lands may lie, or in the absence of the said judge from said county, then to the county judge, particularly describing in said petition the lands to be appraised; and upon proof that reasonable notice has been given, as directed, the said circuit judge, or in his absence then the county judge, shall, upon hearing the petition, appoint three disinterested freeholders, residents of the county in which said lands may be situated, as commissioners, for the purpose of assessing such damages; and the order in which they are appointed shall specify the lands proposed to be appropriated and occupied by the corporation for the purposes aforesaid. The said appraisers, after being being duly and legally sworn, by some officer legally authorized to administer oaths, honestly and impartially to assess such damages, shall proceed, by viewing said lands and by such other evidence as the parties may produce before them, to ascertain and assess the damages which each owner shall sustain by the appropriation of his lands for the purposes aforesaid. The said appraisers shall make a report in writing, to said judge of the circuit or county court, as the case may be, reciting the order of their appointments, and specifying the several parcels of lands described therein, the names of the owner or owners of the respective parcels of land, if known-if not known stating that fact, and specifying also the damages which the owner of the respective parcels will sustain by reason of the appropriation of the same for the purpose aforesaid; which said report shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit or county court, as the case may be, in which said lands may lie. Should either party be dissatisfied with said assessments the said judge may, at the next term of the circuit or county court, as the case may be, on hearing the parties in interest, or if both do not appear, on proof of notice being given to the opposite party, modify the said assessments, as to him shall appear just. At the said term of the court, as aforesaid, holden next after the filing of said report, as aforesaid, a record shall be made of the report, with the order of the said court thereon, accepting or modifying the same. On the payment of damages, if any, thus assessed, and the expenses of assessment, the corporation shall immediately become seized and possessed of the said